ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Central Minnesota Community Foundation and Stearns Bank N.A are encouraging the community to continue to give to the Community Challenge with the hopes of breaking the previous year’s amount raised.
Last year, the Stearns Bank Community Challenge raised more the $665,000. Stearns Bank is increasing its donation by $50,000 to a total match of $150,000, and the Challenge is on track to break last year’s amount. As of December 13, 2023, the Community Challenge has raised over $352,000. Three local food shelves benefit from the funds raised including Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and St. Joseph food shelves.
“We continue to be amazed at the generosity of our neighbors throughout Central Minnesota,” said Rory Bidinger, Chief Marketing Officer at Stearns Bank N.A. “With our increased donation, Stearns Bank’s goal is to further support the growing need of our local food shelves and we humbly ask for the continued support of the broader community to advance this effort.”
With just over two weeks left for the Community Challenge, CMCF Executive Director, Greta Stark-Kraker says she’s hopeful it will have a record-breaking year.
“We are beyond grateful to Stearns Bank for increasing this year’s Community Challenge match. Our hope is that this additional match continues to inspire the spirit of giving throughout Central Minnesota.”
Donations for the Stearns Bank Community Challenge need to be received by December 31, 2023. Contributions should be sent directly to any of the following eligible food shelves to the attention of the “Stearns Bank Community Challenge.”
- Catholic Charities, 911 18th Street North, Saint Cloud, MN 56302-2390 or online at ccstcloud.org/donate
- Cloud Salvation Army, 400 US Highway 10 S, Saint Cloud, MN 56304 or online at: https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/northern/StCloud/
- St. Joseph Community Food Shelf, PO Box 384, Saint Joseph, MN 56374
The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) attracts and administers charitable funds for the benefit of the local community. Since 1985, CMCF has grown to $143.5 million in assets and awarded $155.3 million in grants to non-profits. The CMCF is governed by a local board of directors and is a partner of CommunityGiving, which is a network of community foundations united under a single framework to create efficiencies that maximize the impact of our donors. Collectively, CommunityGiving administers over 1,100 funds totaling over $210 million in assets. Learn more at CommunityGiving.org/CentralMN.
About Stearns Bank N.A.
Minnesota-based Stearns Bank National Association is a $2.2 billion, independently owned financial institution with locations in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona, and over 35,000 small business customers nationwide. Recognized as having a bullet-proof balance sheet with 24% capital and earning top rankings as one of the nation’s highest-performing banks by American Banker, and most recently ranked fourth in the U.S. among banks having more than $1 billion in assets by Independent Banker’s 2023 Best of the Best ranking of banks with the highest 3-year average Return on Assets, Stearns Bank specializes in nationwide affordable housing, workforce and multifamily housing, commercial construction lending, build-to-suit and CRE-repositioning lending, family office and lender financing, USDA and SBA lending, and small business and equipment financing. As a national leader for nonprofits, Stearns Bank offers its customized suite of Nonprofit Banking Solutions specially designed to empower nonprofit organizations across the country. Driven by a passion to help others achieve their greatest ambitions, Stearns Bank’s mission is to Get the Job Done! For more information, visit StearnsBank.com.